Padraig Parkinson Talks Poker, Charity and God
Partypoker ambassador Padraig Parkinson has just busted out of the Day 2 Main Event and we caught up with him for a quick chat over a pint.
Parkinson had fired a few bullets already but did make Day 2 by qualifying from the Day 1d Turbo that began at 10 a.m. today.
��Ungodly hour,�� Parkinson reflected, ��I can��t believe how stupid I was, but it was a lot of fun and I was playing with a lot of friends.��
Parkinson made it through with a stack of 55,000 and was straight in to Day 2.
��I��m sad I didn��t last longer as I was on a table with a lot of friends including Nicky Power.��
Parkinson related how he only lasted three hands and his exit involving holding in the big blind. A flop of saw Parkinson check-call and see the hit the turn. Again Parkinson check-called and the river was the . Parkinson moved all in and his opponent held a for the better straight.
Much more important though and dear to his heart is his charity tournament on Sunday in support of ��Poker for the Homeless�� that Parkinson has been involved in for over ten years over the course of which they have raised over �250,000.
Over the years they have been supported by Jesse May and a host of top football and snooker stars as well as ��shaking down the online bookmakers.��
The charity tournament has been without a home for three years so Parkinson is delighted it has now found a home with partypoker. The buy-in is �100+20 with the �20 going to charity. There is also an add-on for �50 which all goes to charity and every add-on will be matched by partypoker so put your hands in your pockets.
As well as the homeless charity they will be supporting Pieta House which is run by Brother Kevin in Dublin and is involved in suicide prevention and self-harm. Suicide is the number one killer of under 30-year-old men in Ireland and their message is both to raise awareness of this but also to let people know that professional help is available and to not give up.
��I don��t believe in God,�� Parkinson said, ��but every time I meet Brother Kevin I think I must be wrong.��
Amen to that.